To those celebrating alone, still a Merry Christmas

Christmas has a way of reminding people where they belong.

For many Filipinos, December is a return. It is the month of going home, of packed tables and familiar noise, of voices that overlap because everyone is finally in the same room again. The season assumes company.

But not everyone arrives there.

At 25, Miyahra Alliah Oabel is spending Christmas alone for the first time. She is working abroad, far from the family and traditions she grew up with. 

It was a choice shaped by long-term goals, but as the season arrives, the distance feels heavier.

“The dreams I have for me and my family have led me to this moment,” Oabel said. 

She is grateful for the opportunity to work overseas, yet she admits that homesickness has started to creep in, something she barely felt during her first months away. Christmas, she said, makes absence more noticeable.

Back home, the season was unmistakable. Houses were filled with decorations, children sang carols, and Christmas music played everywhere. 

"A normal Christmas to me means hearing Jose Mari Chan in every Filipino household,” she said. This year, those markers are missing. Where she now lives, Christmas is not widely celebrated, and work leaves little time or energy to recreate what she remembers.

Still, Oabel plans to observe the holiday in simple ways. She intends to attend Mass, cook familiar food for noche buena, sing karaoke, and give herself a small gift on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day will be spent at work, though she hopes a quiet dinner afterward will help mark the day.

For Micah Inion, also 25 and based in Quezon City, spending Christmas alone is no longer new.

Her first Christmas alone came when she began living independently. “Malungkot, of course,” she said. 

Over time, the feeling did not disappear, but it became something she learned to expect. “Nasasanay na,” she said. 

"But do I have a choice? Wala din, but to gather myself.”

There were years when she slept through the day. Other years, she tried going out alone, hoping to make it feel different. The sadness, she said, remained. This year, she plans to host Christmas in her condo and celebrate with people she chooses to be with.

“The hardest part is still the loneliness,” Inion said. “Ang hirap talaga labanan.” When it becomes overwhelming, she allows herself to feel it. “Iyak talaga,” she said, then moved on.

What she wants people to understand is that spending Christmas alone is not easy, even if it appears manageable. “They might think it’s easy,” she said, “pero emotionally, mahirap talaga labanan.”

Her Christmas wish is straightforward: financial stability, emotional and mental strength, and stronger friendships.

Oabel’s and Inion’s experiences show two sides of the same situation. 

One is facing Christmas alone for the first time. The other has learned how to live with it. Neither experience is dramatic, but both are real.

For those spending Christmas alone this year, the season may be quieter than usual. It may pass without the noise, the photos, or the familiar traditions.

But Christmas has never only lived in crowded rooms. Sometimes it shows up in small choices: cooking a familiar dish, showing up to work, lighting a candle, calling home, or simply getting through the day with care.

If this Christmas finds you on your own, let it be enough to say you showed up. The days will move forward, the distance will change, and this season will not stay the same forever.

Still, Merry Christmas. —LDF, GMA Integrated News